IMAGE
Some would argue that the Image would be the opening shot of Jacob Singer (the protagonist pictured above) in the subway (which we will discuss shortly), but I, personally, do not find such to be the case. It is this Moment, this Image, which constantly and recursively haunts Singer throughout the film. This particular memory-trace--and this Moment in particular--returns back to Singer over and over, and informs his choices and judgements throughout the narrative. As we eventually learn, this Moment, this Image, in fact constitutes Singer's authentic self (to be explored at the end of this blog post). It is his coming to terms with this Moment-Image (hyphenated because it is both the defining Moment for Singer, as well as a Moment which haunts him as a trace in the form of an Image, most often in dreams).
TEXT
He is reading Albert Camus' The Stranger. It could be no other way: Singer is a stranger in a strange land, a "place" where he should not be, and this is because he has not come to terms with his Moment-Image and returned back into himself (becoming-what-he-is or -should-be). For the time being, perhaps, The Stranger serves as a guide, since he is ignoring his Daemon (better guide).
MOTTO
It reads: "HELL. That's what life can be, doing drugs. But it doesn't have to be that way. Help is available, day or night." What it means to say: "HELL. That's what life can be, living inauthentically. But it doesn't have to be that way (you can become-what-you-are). Daemon is available, day or night."
Below is the subway scene (and then some), in case you are interested:
SPOLIER ALERT: Essentially, Singer was killed in Vietnam, and the narrative consists of him navigating that liminal space which, for sake of convenience, we will call Purgatory. But he should not be there. Singer only exists in this place (where he is a stranger) because he has not come to terms with his limits (in this case, sheer finitude), has not acknowledged the authenticity of his self. Singer's Daemon in this film, rather obviously if you see it, is his Doctor, who guides him back to become-what-he-is, and back to his proper territory and place/space. But Singer keeps ignoring Daemon; as such, he meets his Nemesis, wherein he finally realizes and comes to painful terms with his situation:
After Singer realizes the authenticity of his proper self (and the inauthenticity of that which he has been pursuing), he comes back home, back into himself, to become-what-he-is. He comes to terms with his Moment, that Image that constantly haunts him (Moment-Image). His "coming back home into himself" is below:
Certainly, this film deals with a metaphysics of after-life--an almost theological narrative of sorts--but it is easy to extrapolate the concepts within the narrative and apply them to the ontological and metaphysical notion of limits in the embodied sense, and as we have been discussing in class. At least, such is the case in my opinion.
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